Tremendous win against high flying Olton

Warwickshire Premier League
1st XI
Olton & NW 169 all out
Aston Manor 170-9
ASTON MANOR WON BY ONE WICKET

Aston Manor pulled off a tremendous win against high flying Olton in a nail biting match at Church Road.

On a wicket that surprisingly favoured seam bowling Manor were excellent with the ball and well supported in the field with a performance far superior to that of their last two matches.

When Recordo Gordon is in full flow it is a daunting prospect for any batsman and the ex-Warwickshire man finished with 5-47 after a spell of seriously quick and intimidating bowling. He set the tone with a fantastic double wicket maiden first over which immediately put the visitors under pressure. Clement Smith complemented Gordon well with some very tight and accurate opening bowling and the pressure was maintained by Masood Iqbal who also bowled sharply in his first game of the season finishing with 2-43. Manor’s spin twins of Junior Johnson (2-20) and Shaun Findlay (1-20) were also impressive as the hosts dismissed Olton’s much vaunted batting line up for 169.

In reply Gordon definitely decided that attack was the best option as he incredibly smashed 42 from only 12 balls. All of his runs were boundaries, five sixes and three fours, but unfortunately none of Manor’s other top order batsman could complement his aggression. Incredibly despite Gordon’s contribution Manor found themselves in dire trouble at 66-6! With Phil Trilloe bowling superbly and taking 5 wickets a win looked inevitable for the visitors when Manor’s ninth wicket fell with the score only on 123. Manor had three debutants playing their first game of 1st XI cricket and one of them was number 11 bat, 15 year old Ridouan Asselman. He joined Clement Smith in a seemingly impossible position, but showed incredible determination and application to survive 47 balls to finish on 3 not out. The stubborn support given by Asselman enabled Smith to go on the counter attack and he did this superbly finishing on 76 not out from 71 balls to see Manor home to an exciting and important victory.